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SHOE 

FACTORY 

EFFICIENCY 








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SHOE FACTORY 
EFFICIENCY 



By 

John E. Kirwin 



Published by 

Leather & Shoe Audit & System Co. 

183 Essex St. Boston, Mass. 

A. D. 1910 






Copyright 1910 

By 
John E. Kirwin 



yjJJ 



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(g^C!.A:a?8t59 






CONTENTS 



Chapter I. - Unit Area of Production 
" II. - Labor 
" III. - Machinery 
" IV. - The Productive System 
" V. - Specialization 
" VI. - Departments 
" VII. ■ Shoe Costs 
" VIII. - Conclusion 



CHAPTER I. 
Unit Area of Production 



Shoe manufacturers sometimes ai-e at a loss to 
know whether or not they are making the best possible 
use of the floor space at their disposal. Careful inves- 
tigations are made and the untiring efforts of the sup- 
erintendent are enlisted. Frequently the concerns in 
doubt go outside and employ the services of men 
whose business it is to study, de\ise and improve sys- 
tems vtith an eye to greater productiveness. This latter 
course is a verj'' profitable investment, providing the 
men engaged are thoroughly conversant with the pecu- 
lar problem of producing shoes. 

It is veiy natural that shoe manufacturero 
should want to know exactly where they are at, inas- 
much as the field of competition is extremely keen and 
the margin of profit small. The race is, indeed, for 
the sure-footed no less than for the fleet-footed. A 
few suggestions may clear the situation. For instance, 
a manufacturer may perceive in advance that the price 
of matei'ials is going to rise and in this case he is con- 
fronted with the problem of "stocking up". Now, un- 
less he knov/s down to a cent what it costi; hirn to make 
his product and unless he is infomied down to a square 
foot as to how much room it requires to move the work 
through to completion, he cannot v/isely venture into 
the market and place heavy orders with a feeling of 
clear confidence. Lacking such precise knowledge of 
hi.3 own business he fails into the habit of waiting and 
considering, with the result later of buying materials 
at advanv^ed cost. Many manufacturers take long 
chances and they stand to win or lose, but those be.^it 
equipped with a precise conception of their productive 
capacity and the cost per unit of product are the men 

1 



who seize opportunities at the right time and then push 
their competitors. It is well known that some men are 
classed as conservative who are prevented from acting 
because of a lack of complete understanding of their 
own working organization. Others are stigmatized as 
adventurers, who merely act quickly and decisively be- 
cause of well placed confidence in the efficiency of 
their productive power. 

The point which is being driven home is that too 
few manufacturers know within a row of apple trees 
just how much floor space it takes to turn out a unit 
of their product, which is a pair of shoes. This is one 
of the units of productive efficiency which should be 
ascertained exactlj^ 

The point just made involves a good deal. It 
comprehends all the parts of the factory, department 
by department, and their correlation. Much depends 
on the physical structure of the factory, in attaining 
the greatest departmental efficiency, or in other words 
an arrangement which might be admirably adapted to 
one shoe manufacturing plant would be the worst pos- 
sible arrangement in another. It is, therefore, neces- 
sary for each plant to line up its forces to the highest 
productive advantage. Some observations on how cer- 
tain factories are arranged may clarify these claims. 

Mere and more the belief is gaining ground that 
the cutting of the upper leather and sole leather should 
not be a v/orking part of the factory proper. Hence 
we note that some large firms are segregating the cut- 
ting unit from the organization proper. At present 
this arrangement seems to apply chiefly to concerns 
engaged on a large scale. The whole idea back of it is 
of course, that so much money may be either made or 
lost in the cutting up of the leather that it should be 
made a seperate department from all the rest of the 
factory. In other words, the leather should be received 
checked, sorted, and cut, and then be sold to the fact- 
2 



ory proper, just as though it were a purchase made 
outside. Needless to say, an unmistakable double 
check is hereby afforded on the most expensive mater- 
ial used in the process of shoe manufacturing. 

In some factories that are built suitably it is 
found convenient to have the cutting and fitting depart- 
ments on the same floor. Wherever this is in vogue it 
is noted that many of the operations usually done in 
the stitching room are transferred to the cutting 
room. Such operations as skiving, cementing, folding, 
lining and upper marking— which are preliminaiy 
factors in the work —and are found to facilitate 
greatly the fast rotating of the shoes through the stitch- 
ing room, if they are done in the cutting room. 
Investigations show that in many instances, where 
shoes are held up in the stitching room, the delay is to 
be traced to one or the other of the preliminary opera- 
tions. When work is once well started in this depart 
ment there is little fear of it being held up. 

To carry the observations further, it is found 
that greater efficiency is often gained by having the 
making and the finishing departments on the same 
floor. Where such an arrangement obtains, poor edges 
or poor work of any sort may be pushed back quickly 
to the department from which it just issued, without, 
it must be noted, the necessity of transferring on the 
elevator. Applying the same principle, an arrange- 
ment which provides for the lasting and stock-fitting 
departments on the same floor may be defended on the 
grounds of greater productive efficiency. 

It is not deemed practical to go too much into 
specific details as this discussion is merely intended to 
furnish food for thought and to call attention to the 
fact that shoe manufacturers are in a position which 
demands the acquisition of every bit of detailed know- 
ledge relating to their individual plants which it is pos- 
sible for them to secure. The reason for this is, as we 
have pointed out, because the competition is becoming 
so great and because the net profits are being shaved 
£0 closely. It should be further stated that small fact- 
ories are undeniably on the decrease, and there must 
be a good reason back of it. 
3 



CHAPTER 11. 

Labor 
Conditions Must Be Right. 

Much has already been left unsaid, I ut as it is 
my present intention merely to break the ground, the 
gamut of details, such as would be necessary in a fine- 
tooth analysis, is purposely limited. The fact that 
hardly any two factories in the country produce shoes 
under identically the same conditions is v/ell establish- 
ed. The further fact that hardly any tv/o factories 
sufficiently alike in the amount and quality of their 
products to admit of comparison use the same amount 
of labor or attain the same labor efficiency is a subject 
that invites close and thoughtful attention. 

Geographical situation admittedly has a great 
effect. Sectional location within that same geogra- 
phical unit has likewise a great effect. These are con- 
ditions that may be taken advantage of, but cannot 
well be changed. The main point at issue, however, is 
the efficient production of labor. Conditions, let me 
hasten to say, have much to do with this, and that they 
must be right in order to attain the desired end scarce- 
ly needs to be stated. Two sets of conditions have been 
suggested, but the latter, or internal conditions, are 
the ones that are now to be considered. 

The construction and physical arrangement of 
the factory helps or hinders the best production. Room 
enough for each and every operator at the machine or 
at the bench is hardly less important than the proper 
lighting, heating and ventilating of the various work 
rooms. Those who have seen cutters at the bench 
swinging their arms, bundling themselves in wearing 
apparel and blowing on their fingers, know the effect 
of such conditions as regards production. Poorly vent- 
ilated stitching rooms with girls fainting every now 
and then is a condition not to be overlooked. Misun- 
4 



derstanding-s and quarrels between operatives who have 
been unable to keep their work carefully seperated be- 
cause of cramped quarters also suggests wrong condi- 
tions. See that the operatives have rocm, light, heat 
and the best air that can be furnif.hed and the produc- 
tive efficiency will not be hindered on this score. 

The piece-price system is undoubtedly a good 
producer in itself, but even this system is often greatly 
misunderstood. The fact that the firm pays each op- 
erative on this basis just what the operative earns 
should not be the end and aim in itself as is often the 
case. Not a few operatives in every factory are satis- 
fied with a little less than they might earn if condi- 
tions were slightly better. This indeterminable mar- 
gin is really a dead loss to the concern, although it 
might tax the persuasive powers of a great orator to 
make some manufacturers believe it. The fact re- 
mains, however, that it costs the manufacturer no 
more for power and running expense to get this addi- 
tional output per piece-price operative than it does not 
to get it. There is a deep-rooted belief among manu- 
facturers that the danger flag only flies over the heads 
of day laborers and that they alone require strict tabs 
to be kept. With the more progressive concerns and 
those who analyze their expense more closely, the fact 
that piece-price operatives will take care of themselves 
is not given this credence. 

The workmen from the first to the last operation 
in the shoe factory require careful . and painstaking 
supervision. Here is an important condition. It 
should be said, and experience attests the fact, that 
quantity of supervision will not solve the problem. It 
must be productive supervision or it is worse than none. 
Each factory must depend on itself in this matter, but 
some record should be kept to show that the supervi- 
sion is highh/ productive. Many foremen who have 
been good producers at the machine have proved abso- 



lutely inadequate to the task of getting production out 
of others. And this applies equally to positions higher 
up in the organization. 

There is another important matter that demands 
careful attention. Speaking largely, the laborers fall 
into two distinct classes, the skilled and the unskilled. 
How many concerns take this into careful consideration 
and place craftsmanship at a premium? There is no possi- 
ble denial of the fact that a factory which is so organ- 
ized that a skilled laborer does nothing but the work 
that requires skill, with the unskilled laborers supple- 
menting him, is far in advance of other factories not 
discriminating thus carefully. Such discrimination is 
absolutely essential to the highest factory efficiency, 
and no point mentioned thus far challenges closer 
thought on the part of the reader. The writer has 
known instances where skilled operators have spent 
from thirty to fifty per cent, of their time each day on 
operations that could not possibly fall in the group of 
expert labor. No doubt the differentiation along this 
line obtained far more widely when the system of ap- 
prenticeship was in vogue. It is not necessary, how- 
ever, to return to the old system of apprentices to 
make this careful division of labor. The principle it- 
self is operative, furthermore, from the bottom to the 
top of the factory organization. 

The fact that many things may be accomplished 
under adverse conditions is no argument whatever. It 
is rather an advocacy of the principle that right condi- 
tions make for greater efficiency. But better proof 
than this is at hand. Factories are being run to-day 
which take careful account of such elements as are 
mentioned above. Practical working demonstrations 
carry their own conviction. Do not fail to analyze the 
labor account in your efforts to promote the productive 
efficiency of your factorJ^ 



CHAPTER III. 
Machinery 

I have discussed one of the chief productive units, 
namely, labor. The fact might have been stated that, 
although labor is a vital factor and the one which can be 
least meddled with, itis the first object of attack when 
a shoe manufacturer readjusts or institutes a change in 
his expense accounts. I tried to show that conditions 
must be right to get the highest labor efficiency, and 
in the following discussion on machinery, the other 
great productive unit, right conditions must not be lost 
to view. 

A machine is invented and put on the market to 
accomplish certain definite results. From time imme- 
morial machines have been supplementing the workman 
and accomplishing different phases of the work that 
previously had been done by hand. The theory that 
machines throw men out of employment has been ex- 
ploded time and again. The fact that this theory gain- 
ed early credence, which has not even now entirely 
passed away, is that a new machine necessarily brings 
about a change for a short time, but usually heralds 
greater production and the need of more hands. Each 
machine, as already stated, is made to do certain defi- 
nite things under proper and specified conditions, and 
it will always do those things if these conditions obtain 
and it will continue in the service until it is worn out. 
A machine, however, has no brains or human intuition 
and will run when power is applied exactly as the ar- 
rangement of shafting, cams, pawls, rachets, levers, 
etc., permit it to run. Most machines will do a little 
more than they are intended to do, but it is not the ma- 
chine in this case; it is the skill and the brain of the op- 
perator that does it. So much about machines is a- 
greed to by all. 

7 



Machines, not unlike a company of soldiers, should be 
lined up to the very best advantage. Some concerns 
employ a superintendent of construction, whose busi- 
ness it is to accomplish this end and his position is a 
permanent one. There is no question but that money 
is made and lost on the machines, the manner of hand- 
ling and the general line-up. An advantage of great 
Importance is here implied, namely, that the foreman 
is usually too busy with ever-present duties to reflect 
on the arrangement of his room with respect to the ma- 
chines, but is never too busy to bring facts or sugges- 
tions to the attention of a man whose duty it is to ex- 
amine and consider them. The desire for greater ma- 
chine efficiency has given the position of superintend- 
ent of consti^uction a permanent place in the shoe 
factoiy. 

A separate machine ledger is kept by some shoe 
firms for the individual machines, and its value is un- 
questionable. The price of a machine, its probable life, 
the machine use rate, its depreciation, its intrinsic val- 
ue as old junk— all these things, together with the 
number and position of the machine in the factory and 
the debit column for repairs and new parts, suggest 
how strictly the tabs are kept on the individual ma- 
chines in certain factories. 

To get the most efficient service from each and 
every machine it is not necessary to run them at abnor- 
mal speed; in fact, such a state of things is absolutely 
dead wrong. Careful tutoring among the different 
machine operators from the first to the last in the fact- 
ory as regards the purposes, the parts, and the exact 
uses of each separate machine is very essential to effic- 
ient service. Careful directions as to the time of oil- 
ing, the parts to be oiled, and the cleanly condition of 
each machine must be known, and, most important of 
all, followed to the letter by every machine operator in 
the factory. 



The unnecessarily hard strain that a machine is 
subjected to when slightly out of order but still run- 
ning may cripple the efficiency of that machine to an 
extent often little realized. 

Careful supervision is once more emphasized as 
an essential factor in gaining greater productiveness. 
The machine will do the certain thing that it is intend- 
ed to do, providing the conditions are right. Further- 
more, it will perform these specific functions far more 
regularly and with much less liability of being incapac- 
itated than any human being can do. Let the correct 
conditions prevail and the eye of supervision be ever 
pi'esent and each machine will produce up to its capac- 
ity. That the machines so often are not producing up 
to their capacity should open the eyes of the manufact- 
urer to the fact that wrong conditions are existing in 
his plant. The more progressive manufacturers are 
thoroughly awake to this and are reaping an advant- 
age in increased factory efficiency. 

There is no part of the shoe factory that deprec. 
iates so fast as the machinery, and no other item under 
repairs amounts to anything like so much as machinery 
repairs. Waste power is in itself an important feature, 
and while the machinery equipment cannot be so man- 
aged as to do away entirely with some waste power, 
yet this item may be kept down to a minimum. All the 
expense and loss that may be incurred through machin- 
ery demands that each shoe concern, which hopes to 
maintain its place in the advance of this great industry, 
must gird up its loins and fight determinedly for every- 
thing that promotes greater efficiency. This really 
means greater production at the same or at a less cost 
than previously. The productive unit of machinery 
should be nicely ascertained, and if it is not what it 
should be, then vigorous action should be taken to at- 
tain the desired end. 



CHAPTER IV. 
The Productive System. 

With an eye to efficient factory organization 
many leading features have already been pointed out 
and progressive ideas advanced. This part of the 
treatment has to do with the so-called sheet system of 
putting work through the factory. It is applicable in 
any factory regardless of size, but it seems to be 
greatly misunderstood. In principle it means the 
movement of the shoes with military precision through 
the factory, from the cutting room to the shipping 
room. 

There is a more or less prevailing notion that the 
sheet system of turning out shoes is only possible 
where such i and such conditions obtain. Not a few 
manufacturers have been heard to say that they had 
tried out the system thoroughly and that it was not 
practical for their purposes. A great many times the 
system has failed to work properly in certain factories 
but this failure is no reflection on the system itself; it 
is a sad commentary on the conditions existing in some 
factorie?. The system itself is a great producer, but 
it is not one of those automatic affairs that work of 
their own accord. Systems of all kinds have to be de- 
veloped; there is a necessary period of growth and 
evolution before any system can incorporate itself into 
the smooth working organization of the factory. Mod- 
ifications which have to be made in one factory may 
not have to be considered at all in another. Tlie gene- 
ral conditions have to be analyzed in order to institute a 
a system and make it fit. It is dead wrong, hov/ever, 
that such a productive agency should be discredited in 
factories where it was neither started right, nor allow- 
ed to become welded into the working organizatation 
of the factory. 

10 



It is not necessary to go into the details of tha 
sheet system. In its main outlines it represents the 
different case numbers, styles, lasts, patterns, number 
of pairs, etc., which make up a day's work. Each 
sheet represents a day's work, and if the obstacles to 
production have been carefully and properly itemized, 
such as lasts and different styles of shoes and differ- 
ent kinds of stock, there should be no failure to move a 
sheet each day. Unless the sheets are strictly main- 
tained and held to closely, the system can never be any- 
thing but a miserable failure. There are not a few 
factories that claim to be operated on the sheet system 
which are not in any degree managed in this manner. 
There is no such thing as a sheet system except in fact- 
ories where the sheets produce their face value each day. 

Naturally this method of getting work through 
the factory and shipped out on time would never have 
gained the prestige that it has were it not for the fact 
that some of the most progressive concerns in the coun- 
try discovered the productive efficiency of a system 
whereby each department of the factory is held to a 
certain definite output each and every working day of 
the year. The genius of the system consists in the fact 
that obstacles and hindrances of all kind are taken into 
consideration in making up the sheets for each day: 
so that production will not be slowed down because of 
too many cases of button shoes or too many shoes on 
the same last, etc., appearing in a particular sheet. 
The sheets set a speed for all the factory departments 
which must be maintained. 

One of the most common reasons why the sheet 
system fails to work properly in many factories is that 
it is allowed to follow the lines of least resistance. 
In other words, it may be worked successfully in the cut- 
ting and the stitching rooms, but be allowed to go astray 
in the lasting room. As soon as any one of the several 
units fails to keep up its end, then the whole system is 
11 



of no avail. You cannot have a sheet system for some 
of the rooms and not for all. A system in operation 
cannot possibly be greater than any of its component 
parts as an affective v/orking agency. Half-hearted 
or ill-advised conduct in instituting the sheet system in 
the shoe factory has led not a few manufacturers to 
believe that it is a thing that may work all right or 
may not, that may be a good thing and possibly a nec- 
essity in some places, but a ticklish or risky thing to 
meddle with. It is really a shame that a system which 
is such a good producer should have received so much 
discredit. 

It is easy enough to see that a shoe firm of to-day 
is obliged to operate at a capacity proportionate to the 
general standard automatically fixed by the trade. 
When fewer shoes were produced, speaking generally, 
profits were considerably higher than at the present 
time, when the race is on for rapid production. Un- 
doubtedly as the business continues, the need will more 
and more be felt to attain to greater eflSciency. Some 
concerns that have tried the sheet system and failed 
will eventually find that it is not a question of take it 
or leave it, but a prime necessity to adopt it. 

It is rather dangerous business to attempt to bor- 
row and transplant systems. As has been suggested, 
conditions must be known and must be made right. 
A system needs to grow and pass through a series of 
evolutions. These evolutions may cost the firm money 
for the time being, but those who pin their faith to the 
sheet system will not come far amiss, and that they 
will thereby become greater producers is an assured 
fact. Time, money and patience, no less than eternal 
vigilance, is the price of greater productiveness. 

One of the best tests that a factory is efficient 
is whether or not the sheet system can be successfully 
worked without too much difficulty. This in itself 
gives a correct line on the conditions prevailing in the 

12 



factory. Although conditions as thus applied is a rath- 
er general term, it is thought best to use it rather 
than to cite concrete instances, which might easily be 
done. This is a system that has proved to be a re- 
markable producer; it has never really failed to give 
results; it is constantly gaining prestige; it is distinct- 
ly American; and it deserves a prominant place in all 
considerations along the lines of factory efficiency. 
Because it makes for rapid production and reduces 
factory difficulties and expenses, I urge it as a perma- 
nent factor in the great shoe industry. 



13 



CHAPTER V. 
Specialization. 

The great tendency towards specialization in the 
shoe manufacturing business deserves separate treat- 
ment in this discussion of factory efficiency. The term 
specialization is sometimes misunderstood. A firm, for 
instance, may have specialties or it may specialize in 
certain ways, but this is not specialization in its larger 
sense. As correctly interpreted, specialization means 
the careful lining up of the forces of production with 
the one aim of producing a certain definite article bet- 
ter in quality and more complete in itself than can be 
turned out under any other conditions. It means the 
thorough development and exploitation of the trade on 
one or more specified products. 

The principle itself is thoroughly practical. A 
firm which makes nothing but misses' and children's 
shoes is in a position to locate its plant or plants in the 
most strategic position as regards the labor market 
and to develop each and all the workmen to a greater 
degree of perfection in this line of production than is 
possible for those engaged in turning out other pro- 
ducts at the same time. Each individual workman at 
the bench or at the machine will gain a proficiency of- 
ten little realized if he is allowed to labor at the same 
kind of work week in and week out. This is true from 
the first to the last worker in the factory, and the re- 
sult is greatly increased production and better quality. 
Naturally a concern which caters to the wants of a par- 
ticular trade is going to win that trade over and hold it 
against all comers who do not thus specialize. 

Some concerns have even gone so far as to limit 
each factory to a certain kind of stock— kid shoes in 
one plant, patent leather shoes in another plant, calf 
shoes in still another plant, etc. This specialization 

14 



suggests a great many possibilities, and, since leather 
is such a variable factor at its best, it would seem to 
be a natural evolution as the industry gradually be- 
comes more solidified. As one contemplates these 
things it appears that the shoe business is being re- 
claimed from a state of chaos, which, after all, really 
is the case. 

Every effort is being exerted by progressive 
shoe concerns at the present time to make their pro- 
duct uniform. The old-fashioned idea that certain 
large sizes in a case of shoes might well be less comely 
articles than the middle or small sizes is not in much 
favor to-day, and firms that persist in sending out 
shoes to the trade that are not as uniform as they can 
possibly be made will surely lose their hold on even 
their so called established trade. This matter of great- 
er uniformity is pretty well agreed to and specialization 
is one of the most effective agencies in attaining it. 

The ideal method of readjusting labor costs is to 
so arrange or rearrage the factory that each operative 
can earn not only as much but even more money when 
a reduction in the price of piece-work is made. It 
makes all the difference in the world just how the 
work is put up to the workers throughout the factory. 
This is one of the strong features of specialization, 
namely, that it allows of such adjustments which are 
otherwise nearly impossible. The main idea is to sim- 
plify the work as much as possible down to the small- 
est unit, as this promotes productiveness and reduces 
labor expense. Careful division between skilled and 
unskilled labor can also be better accomplished in a 
factory v/here specialization prevails. There are then 
strategic advantages to be gained in the physical ar- 
rangement of a factory specializing in a certain kind, 
style and grade of shoes. 

A further advantage is to be noted in the pur- 
15 



chasing department and in the office. Leather and 
findings of all sorts can no doubt be even more advan- 
tageously bought in a specialized plant. Less liability 
of errors in the office will also result. The whole ten- 
dency will be towards unifying and standardizing the 
product, and, as a natural result, more uniform meth- 
ods of making and safeguarding the shoes in the works, 
of purchasing the leather and findings, of checking the 
labor costs in the office, and of shipping the goods to 
the trade will be developed. 

One of the chief reasons v/hy the sheet or pro- 
ductive system of moving shoes through the factory 
has failed to work satisfactorily in many instances is 
that so many different kinds and styles of shoes are 
manufactured under the same roof. It is, of course, 
not at all impossible to work the sheet system success- 
fully under such conditions, but, in factories that spec- 
ialize in their production, there is no excuse for not 
running them on the highly productive sheet system. 
The firm which can supply the trade at the proper 
time with a large amount of certain kinds of shoes is 
going to win over a substantial trade because of prompt 
shipments and uniformity of goods. 

Specialization is one of the evolutions that is 
gradually reshaping the shoe industry, and, as there 
are so many advantages olfered to those who will limit 
the range of their operations and thoroughly exploit a 
given field, we may confidently expect that this move 
in the direction of specialization will continue unim- 
peded. In fact, everything that tends to promote 
greater efficiency in the shoe factory must be closely 
watched and studied. Manufacturers cannot be less 
efficient than their competitors and hope to reap equal 
gains from the trade. 



16 



CHAPTER VI. 
Departments. 

I have already alluded to the matter of careful 
departmental divisions as a factor in the promotion of 
general factory efficiency. This subject requires spec- 
ial treatment, as a good many manufacturers are una- 
ware of the importance attaching to it. 

Some of the most progressive manufacturers 
have separated the upper leather cutting department 
from the rest of the factory and also the sole leather 
cutting as well. Bj'^ making this a department in itself 
the leaks that so easily occur may be stopped and the 
many details may be handled in a more exacting man- 
ner than is otherwise possible. It is not difficult to see 
that if expert men are chosen to handle this part of the 
business and to devote all their time and energies, mon- 
ey may be saved for the firm. Leather, especially up- 
per stock, is the most expensive and variable element 
that enters into the building of the shoe and for this 
reason a firm that is engaged on a fairly large scale 
may well consider the advisability of establishing a se- 
parate upper leather department, if not a sole leather 
department, entirely distinct from the factory or fact- 
ories proper. Such a separation must be made abso- 
lute or otherwise the valuable double check will be lost. 

In the event of a separate upper leather cutting 
division there is afforded the necessary'' impetus for the 
upper leather head or heads to make the best showing 
possible. Theoretically this might be done without go- 
ing to the extreme of physically separating the differ- 
ent branches, but in practice it does not work out verj' 
successfully. By making a distinct break between the 
upper cutting and the factory pi'oper the best results 
have been obtained. 

The introduction of the clicking press into the 
17 



cutting room has opened up a great many opportunit- 
ies that did not previously exist and the possibilities of 
the new order of things have not begun to be realized. 
With the continued improvements in dies, such as re- 
versible and adjustable dies that allow of different pat- 
tern adjustments, the money invested will not need to 
be so great and the increment on each dollar thus tied 
up will be greater. Factories which are not large 
enough to segregate the upper leather cutting into a 
division by itself will do well to arrange the cutting 
and fitting departments in such a manner that greater 
speed and efficiency may result. This is largely a mat- 
ter of handling the various preliminary operations ef- 
fectively. Certain operations that are today in many 
factories being done in the fitting room would much 
better be done in a department by itself. The skiving, 
cementing, rolling, marking of uppers and linings can 
be more effectively done in this room, although usually 
accomplished in the fitting department. If the factory 
permits, there are many advantages in having the cut- 
ting and fitting departments on the same floor. The 
work can be more quickly moved from the first to the 
second department, and, moreover, it will be already 
on the run when it gets to the machines. There is a 
great deal in getting the shoes well started in the fitting 
room, for it is then easier to keep them moving fast 
until they emerge as fitted uppers. 

Evidently there is a field for study in getting 
the best departmental divisions, that is to say, the most 
effective division of departments as regards production. 
Generally speaking, an arrangement which allows of 
greater facility in producing shoes promotes the quality 
at the same time. This is not at once apparent, but a 
little thought will convince one that irregularity in the 
movement of shoes through a department of the fact- 
ory reacts on the quality of the shoe. Workmen ap- 
preciate the advantage of laboring in a factory where 
18 



the work comes right and where it comes steadily. Of- 
ten a rearrangement along the lines suggested will help 
to make conditions more favorable to smooth and steady 
production. Naturally, however, each factory must 
be worked by itself, for what will be a successful line- 
up and organization of forces in one factory, where 
such and such conditions have to be met, will not be 
applicable in snother factory where a different set of 
circumstances have to be considered. It is almost a 
general axiom, however, that no f actoiy is so well ap- 
pointed that it could not possibly be bettered in some 
particular. Often times a mere suggestion or an outside 
observation leads to the institution of economic changes 
that greatly promote the general efficiency of the plant. 
The "good enough" policy is not a safe one to follow 
for the individual and it is equally unsafe for manufact- 
uring interests. Pickets and outposts still have their 
valuable uses in the industrial evolutions of the country. 
It hardly seems worthy of belief that a firm would 
arrange or rearrange its departments for greater con- 
venience and accuracy in checking the labor costs, and 
yet such has often been done. This is unjustifiable, 
as one will readily see. While it is of the utmost im- 
portance that the labor costs shall be accurately and 
carefully checked, it is totally beyond reason to make 
the various departments of the factory shape them- 
selves to this end. This is a case of the tail wagging 
the dog, and in such instances the manufacturer loses 
sight of the goal altogether. The productive agencies 
are the ones of first importance, and all other consider- 
ations must be subordinated to these producing agents. 
Along these fundamental lines there are possibilities of 
attaining greater factory efficiency, and the small no less 
than the large manufacturer should be keenly alert to 
institute improvements wherever there is the least reas- 
onable evidence that such a move would better condi- 
tions and thus make the plant a more effective producer. 
19 



CHAPTER VIL 

Shoe Costs 

I have tried to emphasize the importance of the 
fact that each pair of shoes utilizes a certain definite a- 
m.ount of floor space in moving from cutting to the ship- 
ping department and this is most valuable information 
for each manufacturer. The reduction of the protect- 
ive tariff on finished leather and its products and the 
whole present-day tendency to close competition makes 
is highly important, if not indeed imperative, to develop 
each factory to the highest possible degree of efficiency, 
and in doing this the exact cost of the shoe must be 
definitely ascertained. 

There are a great many manufacturers who believe 
that they have their shoe costs figured safely, but I 
wish to ask have they established their shoe costs on an 
exact basis? There is a long gap between safe figuring 
and exact figuring. Not a few manufacturers purpose- 
ly overfigure their shoe costs, and in so doing believe 
they are safeguarding their best interests, but it must 
be asserted, however, that the most farsighted m,en 
and the constructive thinkers realize the day of "safe" 
figuring is rapidly becoming old-fashioned. If for no 
other reason, the great development and advance of 
expert accounting that is now going on in all lines of 
business should spur the careful and progressive shoe 
manufacturer to demand the most exact records. 

In order to reach a sound basis of estimating 
costs exactly, the manufacturing and labor expense 
should be carefully seperated from the cost of materi- 
als. The reason for this is evident, and yet there are 
manufacturers who do not seem to grasp it. The fact 
that better buttons or slightly more expensive fixings 
are put into some particular shoe and a higher price ask- 
ed for it, does not impljrthat the manufacturing expense 
20 



is greater in proportion to the advanced price placed on 
the shoe. It is not wise to attempt to take care of fut- 
ure market exigencies in fixing the shoe costs. The 
manufacturer must be sufficiently f arsighted to tell 
within reasonable limits just what tlie leather UL5ed is 
going to cost him. Naturally, if the leather is going to 
advance in price and if he has been unable to foresee it, 
his whole cost analysis is going to be thrown off. It 
must be asserted, also, that there are other and more 
preferable ways of taking care of emergencies which 
cannot well be foreseen; hence, it is not necessary to 
over rate the shoe costs to take care of this matter. 
Overrating costs is no less reprehensible than under 
rating. Not a few manufacturei's have gone to the 
wall because their profits appeared on paper only. It 
is possible, both through overfiguring and underfigur- 
ing to practically figure one's self out of business. 

One of the most common discoveries made in fact- 
ories which introduce advanced and practical account- 
ing methods is that the profits, which were deemed to 
accrue from the sale of a particular shoe or shoes, were 
derived from entirely different sources. Furthermore, it 
has often been proven that a loss on these "pet" lines 
has been constantly sustained, a fact of which the manu- 
facturer has been blissfully unconscious. The writer 
has in mind a certain factory that featured some parti- 
cularly fancy shoes in its line which were figured at a 
small profit. It happened, partly through accident, 
that these shoes were refigurcd in a different and more 
exact manner about the middle of the season, and it war. 
proved to the manufacturer's amazement tiiat he was 
actually losing money on these shoes, and they were 
consequently dropped from the line. Other instances 
of a similar nature might be cited illustrati:ig the danger 
of figuring costs on shoes under or over. It cannot, 
therefore, be driven l:cme too strongly tliat there is an 
exact method for every manufacturer to establish his 
21 



shoe cosls, but it is not within the province of such a dis- 
cussion as this to go into specific details, nor would it be 
wise to do so. 

In the light of what has been stated above, in or- 
der to get at a sure and exact cost basis, the different e- 
lements, such as materials, labor and manufacturing 
expense, selling expense, etc. , must be carefully sepe- 
raled and sub-divided. A system which figures the cost 
flatly on a pair of shoes cannot possibly be exact. It is 
not reasonable that a shoe made to sell for $1.50 should 
bear a proportion of the manufacturing expense equal 
to that borne by a shoe made to sell for $2.50 or more. 
Unless the proper proportions are ascertained and the 
subdivision of burdens is carefully analyzed, the shoe 
costs cannot possibly approach the degree of exactness 
which the trade conditions of to-day are demanding 
more and more. It should further be admitted that good 
salesmanship will cover a multitude of sins in the cost 
department, but the great shoe manufacturing industry 
cannot be conducted on a hit-or-miss principle nor de- 
pend on its salesmen to overcome through sheer ability 
the effects of rudimental errors in the shoe costing sys- 
tem. Possibly many firms never realize how frequently 
their salesmen overcome serious difficulties of this 
nature. 

Factory conditions are many and varied; in fact their 
name is legion. The best one can hope to do in a general 
treatment is to give a clear line of thought on these im- 
portant matters and allow the reader to fill in the outlin- 
es. Exact systematic book records and improved accoun- 
tancy methods are doing a great deal toward perfecting 
the gi'cat shoe industry of the country. Lax methods of 
making and safeguarding the product in the wor^s 
are being effectually eliminated. The evolution is con- 
stantly going on, and it is felt in every root and fibre of 
the business. 



22 



CHAPTER VIII. 
Conclusion 

In summing up this discussion we are led to be- 
lieve that the shoe business, as now conducted, is far 
too lax in methods of production. Compared with oth- 
er great industries this fact is strongly emphasized. 
It is fairly well agreed by all, that the shoe business is 
one of the most strongly individualized that we know 
of especially when we consider the magnitude of the 
enterprise. The main trend is going to be towards 
standardization and solidification. This will be accom- 
plished by methods and systems that sprout and grov/ 
from the mother-stem of practical efficiency. Those 
who pooh-pooh this idea of system as a ball of red tape 
are only blowing sand into their own eyes. The exper- 
imental stage has long been passed and the alert manu- 
facturer must discriminate between his appai'ent and 
real needs; this means that the Sham or red tape mwA 
no longer be misconstrued with the Real, or advanced 
productive methods. 

All instances of irregularity in records or lack of 
records are now investigated with an eye to obtaining 
more exact data. Some firms keep a seperate book 
for lasts, in which are recorded the principal measure- 
ments, such as heel spring, toe spring, extention, vv^sist, 
ball, etc., and by I'eference to this book the manufact- 
urer can tell at a glance whether or not a new style of 
last will suit his trade. Naturally the good fitting 
lasts have certain cardinal measurements which are 
practically always the same and the good fitters aie 
usually the good sellers. This book is in a way a spec- 
ific record of what his ti-ade demands, and any new ef- 
fects that he may wish to add to his line of shoes must 
first meet these necessary requirements which are 
known and carefully catalogued. This sort of a record 
23 



saves the manufacturer a great many dollars and pre- 
vents hirn from loading up on a last that his trade as a 
whole will not use. Another set of records keeps the 
manufactui'er informed accurately as to the amount of 
floor space used in moving a pair of shoes. These two 
sets of records indicate the energy v/ith which some 
shoe manufacturers are analyzing their business, and 
they are treated in conjunction to show that statistics, 
other than those pertaining directly to the profit and 
loss part of the bursiness, are distinctly worth while 
and cannot wisely be neglected. 

The sheet or productive system, the great tendency 
towards specialization, and the careful arrangement 
of the departmental divisions, are all factors of great 
importance in attaining greater factory efficiency. 
These do not in any sense comprise all the factors that 
make for the desired end. It would be a pretty diffi- 
cult task to try to mention all the productive efficiency 
factors and give tViem their proper proportion to the 
whole. The task would be further complicated by the 
fact that what is good for one is not necessai'ily good 
for another, where two distinct sets of conditions, geo- 
graphical or inherent, have to be considered. This 
limits one to a more or less general discussion, but 
does not prevent one from drawing some im.poitant in- 
ferences which a clear application of thought v/ill turn 
to advantage. 

The trend of events indicates that the shce industry 
is passing through an important evolution, and, in the 
light of what has and is being done, it would appear 
that it is being reclaimed gradually but by sure degrees 
from a chaotic state. From the old-time hit-or-miss, 
hap-hasard, corne-a-day-go-a-day methods of manufac- 
turing shoes to the present-day system of production 
is indeed a long leap. The movement, liowever, is still 
on and there is a vast field ahead. Each new system 
that Vv Oiks successfully does its part to help advance 
24 



the industry. In the light then of what has already 
been accomplished one cannot help but believe in the 
possibilities that present themselves. The small fact- 
ory finds it harder to make money than formerly and 
the most efficient small concerns soon become large 
ones. This tendency w^ill continue and the size of the 
plant will in a measure be a proof of its productive ef- 
ficiency. As the manufactui'er's profit diminishes he 
must either make more shoes than formerly or increase 
the efficiency of his plant to such an extent that the 
cost of production will be less. This is a point that the 
manufacturer who reads these discussions should not 
fail to grasp. Waste of materials is not the only kind 
of waste that the shoe manufacturer must guard a- 
gainst . Lack of efficiency is a waste that mounts into 
dollars much faster than a great many manufacturers 
realize. 



Printed by 

THE L. S S. PRINTING COMPANY 

MILLBURY, MASS. 

No. 1097 

25 



THE 

L. & S. Printing Co. 

SPECIALTY PRINTERS 

FOR 

Leather & Shoe Industries 



MILLBURY MASS. 




OPERATED BY 

The Leather & Shoe Audit & System Co. 

Boston 




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Leather & Shoe 
Audit & System Company 

(Incorporated Massachusetts Laws 1906) 



Experts on 
Factory Production and Costs 

Public Auditors 

Chas. H. Nichols President 

Frederic L. Small Treasurer d Manager 



■ THINGS WE DO - 

Increase Output at Increased Speed 

Decrease Costs 

Install Cost Systems 

that are 

Accurate and Simple 



We are the Only Experts in the World 

Devoting All Of Our Time 

to 

Leather and Shoe Industries 

183 Essex Street Boston, Mass. 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



nrr ^2 iPiO 



Facsimile of the title page of a recent book 

ORGANIZING 
A SHOE FACTORY 



By 

FREDERIC li. SMAIili 

Manager of The Leather & Shoe 

Audit & System Co. 

Boston 



Published by 

E. S. GILE, Treasurer 
Weekly Bulletin Publishing Co., 
Boston, U. S. A. 
1910 



LIBRARY OF CONGRES? 



018 457 191 2 « 



